CryptoQuant CEO calls rising Bitcoin hashrate ‘indirect bullish signal’ from institutions

Bitcoin’s rising hashrate represents an “indirect bullish signal” from institutional investors that are backing several public Bitcoin miners, according to analytics platform CryptoQuant’s founder and CEO, Ki Young Ju.

“Higher hashrate means stronger security and better fundamentals as a store of value,” wrote Ju in a Thursday X post, adding that he sees this as a bullish signal since public miners are largely backed by traditional finance (TradFi) institutions.

Hashrate is a measure of the computational power of a blockchain network, indicating how many hash calculations are performed per second.

Bitcoin’s (BTC) hashrate has recovered by about 45% from the summer’s lows, from about 726 exahashes per second (EH/s) in July to roughly 1,050 EH/s on Wednesday, according to CryptoQuant data. 

The recovery is seen by Ju as an institutional endorsement of Bitcoin’s security and long-term value as well as generally seen as a sign of confidence from BTC miners.

Still, global hashrate remained below its peak of 1,305 EH/s clocked in October 2025, when Bitcoin’s price was trading above $111,000. It was last trading at roughly $81,843 as Thursday’s US equities markets opened.

Bitcoin hashrate, Bitcoin’s price, five-year chart. Source: CryptoQuant.com 

NIP Group expands Bitcoin mining capacity

Public Bitcoin miners, such as Nasdaq-listed NIP Group (NIPG), continue expanding their mining capacity, further adding to the increasing Bitcoin hashrate.

NIP Group revealed a third tranche on-rack asset purchase agreement to acquire about 4.47 EH/s of already-deployed Bitcoin mining hardware, according to a Tuesday announcement.

Once the deal closes, the machines are expected to immediately boost the miner’s Bitcoin production, with total hashrate across all three tranches expected to reach 13.85 EH/s

Related: FINMA approves Switzerland’s first Bitcoin ETF for retail investors

NIP Group currently ranks as the 16th-largest public Bitcoin miner, with 3.11 EH/s in operating hashrate. Bitdeer ranks first with 79.9 EH/s, according to Ziven data.

Top public Bitcoin miners by operating hashrate. Source: Ziven.io 

NIP Group’s stock price fell 6.8% on Wednesday to close at $6.10, extending its 86% decline over the past year, according to Yahoo Finance.

Other large Bitcoin miners also saw their stock prices fall, as the US stock market suffered its sharpest selloff since July on Wednesday. TeraWulf, Core Scientific, Cipher Mining and IREN each lost about 12% from their share price, as higher-than-expected inflation figures pressured Bitcoin miners and AI infrastructure companies.